6* Silversea Greek Isles Ballet

Shares

Enjoy a stunning 6* cruise around the Greek Isles with Silversea and Cruisescapes. Visit Crete, Turkey, Mykonos and Lesbos on this ballet cruise.

Magic? Emotions ? It is what Ballet Cruises offer through amazing and exclusive performances of its talented Ballet Stars. Two Russian dancers from the famed State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia will delight you on two occasions. Enjoy a unique opportunity to meet the Artists during cocktail evenings. A unique moment of sharing through discussions and lectures with Ballet Stars will also take place.

This stunning 6* cruise from Piraeus, near Athens, visits Monemvasia in Greece, Ayios Nikolaos in Crete, Marmaris & Kuşadası, close to the incredible ruins at Ephesus, in Turkey, Mykonos, and Mytilini in Lesbos. This fantastic offer includes one night in a 5-star hotel in Athens pre-cruise and two-night post-cruise.

“Adventure is worthwhile”, said Aristotle, so immerse yourself in a journey that will take in the ancient wonders in Athens. Feel the grandeur of Greece during a visit to a medieval castle in Monemvasia. Late departures allow you to enjoy leisurely nights in Mykonos and Kusadasi as you enjoy this worthwhile cruise. The adventure does not stop there, prepare yourselves to savour spectacular shows of two acclaimed Ballet Stars from the famed State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia.

Gallery

Inclusions

Return flights from Dublin to Athens

All transfers airport / hotel / port

1-night pre-cruise in Athens 5-star hotel

7 nights on board 6-star Silver Spirit based on two sharing

2 nights post-cruise in Athens 5-star hotel

Daria Khokhlova and Artemy Belyakov from the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia will perform a selection of classical favourites

Itinerary

Day 1 Athens, Greece

After your flight to Athens, you will be transferred to the 5* hotel for your one-night stay before your cruise.

It’s no wonder that all roads lead to the fascinating and maddening metropolis of Athens. Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, its honey-color marble columns rising from a massive limestone base, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years. But, today, this shrine of classical form dominates a 21st-century boomtown. To experience Athens—Athína in Greek—fully is to understand the essence of Greece: ancient monuments surviving in a sea of cement, startling beauty amid the squalor, tradition juxtaposed with modernity. Locals depend on humour and flexibility to deal with the chaos; you should do the same. The rewards are immense.

Day 2 Piraeus (Athens), Greece

This morning, after breakfast at your hotel, you will be collected and transferred to the dock to board the magnificent 6* Silversea Silver Spirit. You will have the day to settle in and explore the facilities on board before your ship departs this evening.

Day 3 Monemvasia, Greece

Monemvasia boasts a varied and colorful history that can be traced to the 8th-century when Greeks fleeing the Slav invasion of Lakonia found refuge here. In its heyday, it controlled sea travel between the Levant and European shores. The wall-encircled Lower Town extends along the slopes of a 985-foot-high crag that projects into the sea on the east side of the Peloponnese. For centuries an impressive stronghold, the population dwindled as the inhabitants moved to the mainland. But with the beginning of a restoration program aimed to preserve Monemvasia’s heritage, the Lower Town experienced a new lease on life, and people have begun to return. The Upper Town is situated on top of the Rock of Monemvasia.

Day 4 Ayios Nikolaos, Crete

Ayios Nikolaos is clustered on a peninsula alongside the gulf of Mirabello, a dramatic composition of bare mountains, islets, and deep blue sea. Behind the crowded harbour lies a natural curiosity, tiny lake Voulismeni, linked to the sea by a narrow channel. Hilly, with narrow, steep streets that provide sea views, the town is a welcoming and animated place, far more pleasant than Mallia and the other resort centres in this part of Crete: you can stroll miles of waterside promenades, cafés line the lakeshore, and many streets are open only to pedestrians. Ayios Nikolaos and the nearby Elounda peninsula provide an excellent base for exploring eastern Crete.

Day 5 Marmaris, Turkey

This big, brash resort city has two faces, and they’re hard to reconcile. From the sea, a line of hotels stretches around the northern edge of a great bay, the whole encircled by a magical necklace of pine-clad mountains. Behind those same hotels, however, the city has been overwhelmed by boxy concrete development and streets lined with a hundred generically named eateries. An annual horde of European tourists descends on these workaday establishments, but for the international traveller, there is little about Marmaris that can’t be savoured elsewhere in Turkey.

Day 6 Kuşadası, Turkey

Kuşadası long ago lost its local charm to invasive, sterile buildings and overpopulation, and these days it’s often overrun with cruise ship passengers disembarking to make a mad dash to Ephesus. So, what was a small fishing village up until the 1970s is now a sprawling, hyperactive town packed with curio shops and a year-round population of around 65,000, rising to about half a million in season with the influx of tourists and Turks with vacation homes.

Day 7 Mykonos

Although the fishing boats still go out in good weather, Mykonos largely makes its living from tourism these days. The summer crowds have turned one of the poorest islands in Greece into one of the richest. Old Mykonians complain that their young, who have inherited stores where their grandfathers once sold eggs or wine, get so much rent that they have lost ambition, and in summer sit around pool bars at night with their friends, and hang out in Athens in winter when island life is less scintillating. Put firmly on the map by Jackie O in the 1960s, Mykonos town—called Hora by the locals—remains the Saint-Tropez of the Greek islands.

Day 8 Mytilini, Lesbos

Built on the ruins of an ancient city, Mytilini (so important through history that many call Lesvos by the port’s name alone) is, like Lesvos, sculpted by two bays, making its coast resemble a jigsaw puzzle piece. This busy main town and port, with stretches of grand waterfront mansions and a busy old bazaar area, was once the scene of a dramatic moment in Greek history. Early in the Peloponnesian War, Mytilini revolted against Athens but surrendered in 428 BC. As punishment, the Athens assembly decided to put to death all men in Lesvos and enslave the women and children, so a trireme set sail to issue the order.

Day 9 Piraeus (Athens), Greece

On arrival in Piraeus, after you disembark the cruise ship you will be met at the port and transferred to a 5* hotel for two nights in classic Athens.

Day 10-11 Athens, Greece

“Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts and eloquence” so wrote Milton in his poem Paradise Regained, and Athens truly is a city of ‘art and eloquence’.

Athens is dominated by the flat-topped hill of the Acropolis site of the Parthenon, one of the most famous classical monuments in the world. Even today it’s simple perfection represents one of architecture’s outstanding moments. A Greece cruise will introduce you to the unique charm that is Athens. It may be choked with traffic and burdened with a mountain of debt but its lively character will seduce you and the thousands of other visitors.

Following breakfast on your final day, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight home to Ireland.

Accommodation

1 night in a 5* Athens hotel pre-cruise and 2-nights in a 5* Athens hotel post cruise (call for details).

7-nights on board the 6* Silversea Silver Spirit.

Silver Spirit combines the award-winning hallmarks of the Silversea luxury cruise experience with expanded amenities and exciting new venues for dining and entertainment. Dine on fresh sushi and innovative Asian fusion cuisine at Seishin, meet friends at Stars Supper Club for small plate specialities and live entertainment, or recharge and rejuvenate in the 8,300-square foot spa and fitness centre of the Silver Spirit. Featuring the largest suites in the Silversea fleet, Silver Spirit offers a lively, convivial atmosphere for cosmopolitan travellers who enjoy a greater variety of shipboard diversions, yet crave the personalised service and authentic and “up-close” experiences for which Silversea is known. More ways to play … and to relax … Silver Spirit.

Sign up to the The Irish Times Travel Service NewsletterThank you for visiting the Irish Times Travel Service. Sign up to the Irish Times Travel Service Newsletter to receive the best value offers straight to your inbox.